A Show of Gratitude
by calliope-love
Summary: Poking good-natured fun at the Jack/Reim prompt on the kink meme - I couldn't resist. Silly crack story. Liam-centric, though Xerxes appears in the omake. Post-56.
1. Chapter 1

Whatever was in those painkillers was _amazing,_ Liam thought to himself, taking tea in a rose garden with Jack Vessalius. He was not generally prone to strange dreams or hallucinations — not that he tended to remember, anyway — but after the horrible experience of that wretched party and the intense pain it had left him with, he was absolutely willing to go along with having tea in a rose garden with Jack Vessalius. Jack Vessalius was a damn sight more pleasant than most symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

He even had a nice new coat, to match Jack's green one. Liam's was black with silver accents, not unlike his Pandora coat, and the weight of it was very pleasant, in his dream. Maybe they would come back into style soon and he could get one. Or maybe he would decide to be eccentric like Xerxes and get one anyway. He doubted anyone would blame him for coming away from his near-death experience just a little bit kooky.

"…ah, but I _really_ must apologize for Lily," Jack was saying, his tone turning a little sad. Liam found himself wilting a little at the shift in conversation; just before it had all been tea and roses and not trauma. "I know it won't — I know it doesn't _fix_ anything, for me to say so, but — she's not intrinsically a horrible child. Just — no one ever taught her right and wrong." Jack lowered his eyes, smiling forlornly at his tea. "We were all rather remiss that way, but, well. Baskervilles."

"I —" Liam cleared his throat. "I did get that impression of her, yes. That she would have liked to be…normal. I was…well, I was quite sorry we were on opposing sides. I'd have liked for things to go very differently."

Jack smiled kindly. "She did want to be normal. You can tell by the Chain she attracted."

"The Bandersnatch?" Liam asked, surprised. He couldn't suppress a shudder, but he did his best to hide it from Jack.

"Of course. It's twisted, and wicked — everything that comes out of the Abyss is. But what child doesn't want a puppy to play with?"

Liam winced, staring down at his tea. At length, he said, "I had a dog myself, when I was very young." He couldn't think of anything else to say.

Jack was silent for a while. Liam avoided his gaze. He didn't think the blond man was angry about what had happened with Lily — just sad. But it seemed rude to try to change the subject to something more cheerful, more frivolous, even if in the end he was obviously only discussing things that troubled his subconscious with the first random figure his tired brain had been able to supply. So he just sipped his tea, stalling for time.

Maybe it was opium, in the painkillers.

It was Jack who broke the silence, in the end, looking at Liam with a thoughtful expression he'd seen on Oz from time to time. He said, "You've been a great help, to Oz and myself."

"Oh," said Liam eloquently. "Well, I —"

"In the Pandora meeting, when I first appeared. You were the first to believe in me and stand up for me. I doubt it would have gone so smoothly if you weren't there." Jack tilted his head. "Several other incidents since. I may not come out often, but I _do_ notice these things."

Liam flushed just a little, dropping his gaze to stare at his hands. "Oz is very important," he murmured quietly.

"Hm." There was a rustle of fabric and Liam realized Jack had stood, and was approaching his chair. Hands behind his back and eyes half-lidded, Jack Vessalius leaned over him just a little — Liam couldn't help but notice the sway of his earrings — and said smoothly, "I believe you really should have a reward, for all that you've done."

Liam turned bright red on the spot. Xerxes occasionally threatened to "reward" him for things and it always ended with deep, rampant embarrassment and Break cackling madly as he ran from the room. He opened his mouth and closed it again, mortified to find he couldn't even stutter, but Jack lost his grip over his straight face then and burst out into merry laughter; his hands came out from behind his back to produce —

"A _puppy?_" Liam asked.

And it was — a fluffy little golden retriever with great big paws and a green bow around its neck, and it was wriggling excitedly in that way that puppies did, as though Liam was the most bestest most _amazingest_ person in the whole world and it just had to be in his arms _right then._ Jack, eyes glinting fondly, knelt down and plopped the thing in Liam's lap.

"It doesn't make up for anything you've been through," Jack told him. "But perhaps it's a start — perhaps it will help you begin to heal. At the very least, maybe you won't feel like you have to be afraid of dogs."

"I — I _have_ always been rather fond of them," Liam admitted, turning the thing onto its back and scratching its belly in an attempt to persuade the dog not to lick all over his face. It had a big doggy grin on its face at the attention, and Liam couldn't help but smile back at it, and when he looked to Jack to thank him, the blond man was gone.

Liam blinked. Then he looked around, trying to find him, and the rose garden was gone as well. In the next moment Liam realized he was laying on his back, staring at the darkness of his own ceiling.

"I just dreamed that Jack Vessalius gave me a puppy," he murmured out loud, just to test out the notion.

There was no answer — there were guards outside his door but he'd been left alone to rest. He sighed to himself and prepared to go back to sleep, only to jolt awake again when something wet and cold pushed against his hand.

Liam lifted his head and peered down toward the end of the bed. The puppy was there, by his hand. Seeing him looking at it, the dog grinned again, and wagged its tail just a little. Experimentally, Liam raised his hand, and the puppy walked into his palm, encouraging pettings.

"Pfft," Liam told it, drawing it forward; it laid its head on his chest and closed its eyes happily as Liam scratched its ears. "If I'm not hallucinating you I might have to call you Jack."

The dog did not respond other than a wag of its little tail. Whether it was real or not, it was soft and warm under Liam's hand, and he could feel the puppy's little heart beating, steady and calm.

Liam smiled fondly. He really had always wanted a puppy.

He made a mental note to tell the doctor that they were absolutely _wonderful_ painkillers and drifted off to sleep.


	2. Omake

Early the following morning, Xerxes was the first to check on Liam. He'd have spent the night with him if he could have, as the party had nearly doubled his typical neuroses and he was now so paranoid he could scarcely think past it. But the doctors had been quite insistent upon forcing Break into his own bed.

They'd also been quite insistent that he _stay_ there, which would not work at all, which was why Break made it a point to come and visit his dearest friend before anyone else was up.

The room was quiet when he entered but for the reassuring sound of deep, even breathing, and he made his way easily to a chair at Liam's bedside. Softly, so as not to jostle him in any way, Xerxes reached out to rest a hand gently on his friend's —

— and discovered something fuzzy, which proceeded to move under his hand and shove something cold right into his palm.

"What the _hell?_" Break muttered, after a few moments of flabbergasted silence. He reached out with his other hand and carefully felt out what seemed to be a small, fuzzy animal with floppy ears and a wagging tail and great, big paws, for its size. He heard Liam take a deep breath and shift suddenly, so just in case he was awake, he said aloud, "Liam. I think you have a dog in your bed."

This was met with silence for a moment, though his pillow rustled as though Liam had lifted his head to look. Then, voice filled with _utter glee_, Liam said, "Jack! You're _real!_"

The puppy bolted from under Break's hands with a small yip; its tail whacked him in passing as it made its way up the bed to be affectionate at Liam. Liam was giggling.

"And how, pray tell," asked Break calmly, "did there come to be a dog in your bed?"

"Jack Vessalius gave him to me," Liam replied cheerfully.

Break turned his head to cast a flat stare in Liam's general direction. "Jack Vessalius."

"I met him in a dream, and he gave me this puppy," Liam confirmed. "That is why I named him Jack."

"...in a _dream_, hm?"

"Yes. Jack Vessalius is magical like that."

Break considered this for a moment. But really, it was far too early to get uppity about the possible ramifications of Jack Vessalius going about dispensing puppies in peoples' dreams, so at last he just asked, "What is _in_ your painkillers?"

"I don't know, but they're _really good_," said Liam.

Maybe the doctors would give some to Xerxes, if he got back to his bed before they discovered him gone and he looked properly pathetic. Then _he_ could meet Jack Vessalius in a dream, too, and maybe he would give him a kitty cat to snuggle and love and fend off Gilbert and his awkward declarations of friendship and devotion with.

But, no. With his luck he'd meet _her_ again and come away minus the _other_ eyeball. And while it would be nice not to have to pretend to be able to see anymore, it was really a matter of vanity at this point.

Abruptly, Break realized what he was thinking.

"I'm going back to bed," he announced, reaching out to pat Liam's leg.

"Okay," Liam said jovially. He must still be absolutely zonkered on the medicine. "Hey, hey, maybe we can train Jack to lead you around and he can be _our_ dog."

Oh God. "Yes, dear," Break said absently, giving him another pat. Then he made his way back to his own bed, where, thankfully, he did not dream a _thing_.

He did make a mental note to acquire a kitty anyway, though. The more he thought about it, the more he really wanted some Gilbert-repellent.


End file.
